Is There a Profiler in the House?

Drew Peterson insisted on Saturday that he and a 23-year-old Romeoville waitress were engaged, breaking a weeklong silence on the subject.

But her family—and her live-in boyfriend—say he's dreaming.

The supposed fiance, Christina Raines, lives with a man who said the engagement announcement by Peterson is revenge for her rebuffing his advances.

This guy can't stay out of the limelight. He just can't do it. He's just about gotten away with murder, maybe two murders, beaten a trumped up gun charge and he still can't just walk away to some remote farm and spend the rest of his days penning a confession to be read the day after he dies.

He's a profiler's dream candidate and a couple of term papers for an abnormal psychological major looking to make a name for themselves.

This Quantico "profiling" unit was originally called the FBI's "Behavioral SCIENCE Unit" (BSU).

Since it was widely ridiculed among big city homicide detectives and the G-boys as "the BullShit Unit", they have since changed the acronym title to BAU--the "Behavioral ANALYSIS Unit."

Perhaps most of the public, particulary TV viewers of CSI and other "magic thinking" Hollywood nonsense think BSU or BAU "profiling" is successful. FUGGEDABOUDIT!

"Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal Lecter" are FICTION!. Yet, the public eats up this drivel as reality.

Aside from the BSU coming to the less than profound conclusion that the Atlanta serial child killer was black (Wayne Williams) and that the Rochester, NY serial killer (Arthur Shawcross) would return to the scene of his latest (media unreported) body disposal, it'a all BULLSHIT.

When BSU is accurate, they merely narrow down a field of a million possible "persons of interest" to a much more manageable 100,000 possibles. Impressive? I think not.

Worst of all, the BSU can often set naive local authorities off on a wild goose chase in which the ultimate arrested serial killers confirms the BSU "profile" was indeed bullshit (i.e.: Dennis "BTK" Rader and Gary Ridgway, the prolific Green River Killer)

I DEFY ANYONE TO CITE INCIDENTS WHERE BSU "PROFILING" WAS ANYTHING BUT PSYCHOBABBLE BULLSHIT.

The (non-"profiling")VICAP is another story. This computer program is a valuable law enforcement tool in linking interagency and interstate patterns of serial murder.

Gotta go. I'm hunting down Hannibal Lecter again. Madame Shaniqua of the Psychic Friends Network has some tips for me. Doctor Lecter has been sighted in Bhutan, Novosibirsk, Times Square, Venice Beach and Rio. He was body surfing at Ipanema with Stacy Peterson.

In the words of the celebrated Senora Sherlock herself, "the game is afoot", profilers.

Sounds a lot like this tri-polar Chicago cop I dated. . . . and his little friend you would see out with his "girlfriend" with him . . . and the next time you saw him he had his "wife" with him . . .but it was like see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Police in general make for interesting case studies - alleged murderers or not.

Here are some symptoms of the Histrionic Personality. Sounds a lot like our man Drew...

(1) is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention (2) interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior (3) displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions (4) consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self (5) has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail (6) shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion (7) is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances (8) considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are

"Here are some symptoms of the Histrionic Personality. Sounds a lot like our man Drew..."

12/22/2008 03:47:00 PM

You're real close; Histrionic Personality Disorder is in the same "cluster" with Narcissistic and Antisocial, meaning that the disorders have many things in common.

HPD is primarily diagnosed in females; Narcissistic is found more in men -- like Drew, very definitely.

"'Asshole' is the most perfect word to describe him. Seriously, egotistic is an EXTREME understatement."

12/22/2008 01:19:00 AM

"NPD-- A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. has a grandiose sense of self-importance 2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love 3. believes that he or she is "special" and unique 4. requires excessive admiration 5. has a sense of entitlement 6. is interpersonally exploitative 7. lacks empathy 8. is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her 9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes"

Actually, that's just for starters. Drew Peterson seems to be an out-and-out psychopath -- a person who, by definition, "cannot look back with remorse or look forward with concern."

You'll need Adobe Acrobat or similar reader on your box; save the whole thing and then read offline at your leisure. Really worthwhile. If some of the psychiatric talk gets too heavy at times, just keep going past it and read the case histories -- you'll recognize people you see every day.

Points up the type of person we encounter who's first too crazy for jail, then too sane for the nuthouse, and ends up sort of walking out a side door onto the street...extremely manipulative.

"Drew Peterson was in a West Suburban club over this past week. A club that is frequented by 20 some year olds...."

--12/22/2008 05:59:00 PM

Yeah, they like to surround themselves with people they feel superior to -- younger, less intelligent, weaker...it's easier for them to be a Big Man that way.

all they got to do is find any kind of evidence that links him to the murder.

chances are pretty good that he will never go to jail unless he rats himself out. like most crimes, if not solved within a brief period of time you basically have to wait for the guy to brag about it to someone who will rat on him.